Should there be a limit on homework?

Friday

Mar 22, 2013 at 11:18 AM

It's the thing that interferes with a student's daily schedule and plans. It's the thing that teachers give to benefit their students with the knowledge they need. It's also the foundation for having performing better on exams. That thing is called homework.

BY ALEXANDER LENGTeen correspondent

It's the thing that interferes with a student's daily schedule and plans. It's the thing that teachers give to benefit their students with the knowledge they need. It's also the foundation for having performing better on exams. That thing is called homework.Lately, homework has become more to the point where it is a hassle rather than a tool for school. Many of the brightest students agree that homework is vital to understand a course, but when there is so much, it can pose more harm than good. As I'm writing this newspaper article now, I and other AP students are stressing over which homework assignment we should do. For example, should one study for an upcoming AP History test or start the classroom discussion on Cane Toads for Earth Science? Well, in this case neither because the stack of AP English homework is lying in a pile on the kitchen table.This is one example where too much homework is not beneficial. It is when one teacher assigns so much homework that a student cannot work on other assignments that need to be done unless he or she undergoes sleep deprivation. Even the students who are known as the organized overachievers would tell you that they are known for always doing their homework, but that would mean having to sacrifice time in another class.This idea is best exemplified when you find students reading "The Great Gatsby" in a history class. Most of the time, it's not that a student chooses not to do an assignment; the problem is the student genuinely doesn't have enough time to do the massive workload.According to the American Psychological Association, researchers have said that the average high school student can only withstand 10 minutes multiplied by their grade of homework. So an 11th grader should only be given 110 minutes of homework a night. Unfortunately, this isn't always the case. When a student exceeds the amount of recommended minutes doing homework, he or she begins to get less sleep and do more poorly in classes they have neglected in order to accommodate for another class. Honestly, I have nothing against homework, but when it becomes to the point where I can even have 15 minutes to study for AP U.S. History, that's when it has crossed the line. This is also including time just to eat and having to sacrifice watching television for months.It has been proven that AP students in China, Japan and Canada have higher test scores than the U.S. while at the same time having less homework. Thus, precedents must be set to determine the difference between a lot of homework and a little because "too much of something is not always a good thing."